PowerPoint
CCCH9009 Protests, Rebellions and Revolutions in Modern ChinaDr.
Yan XiaojunAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Politics and Public
AdministrationThe University of Hong Kong#Week 2#From Protest to
Revolution
#Protest, Resistance and Revolution as Social MovementProtest:
Presentation of claims concerning specific issue(s)Resistances
(Revolts): Refusal to obey rules (either non-violent or
violent)Revolution: Rapid and violent change of a countrys
political, social and economic systems (change of regime).#The
forms of social movementCollective protestRevolutionsStrike
wavesNationalist movementDemocratizationStudent/Youth
movementTerrorism
#Social Movements make three kinds of claims. (Charles
Tilly)ProgramIdentityStanding
Social Movements assert popular sovereignty (CT)
#Participants concerted public representation of WUNC
WorthinessUnityNumbersCommitment
#7
#Why? (1) GrievancesKarl Max and Class Conflict
#9Frustration-Aggression PerspectiveRelative DeprivationTed
GurrJames Davies
#Why? (2) ResourcesCreating an elite of professional
revolutionaries (the vanguard of the proletarian class) as a
solution to the workers collective action problem.Organization as
the necessary resource for a social movement.
#Why? (3) Political Rebellion as Strategies of Survival.
(Elizabeth J. Perry)
The NienRed SpearsCommunist Revolution#Upper classes, you owe us
money;Middle classes, stay out of our affairs;Lower classes, hurry
to our mountain lair,Here to pass the years with us.--A song
popular among the notorious railway brigands of Lin-Cheng,
Shantung. In Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China, Elizabeth
Perry (Stanford University Press, 1980), p.74.Why? (4) The Cultures
of ContentionDevelop the workers own consciousnessConceive the
workers movement as a collective intellectual, one of whose prime
tasks was to create a working-class culture. (ST p.12)
Antonio Gramsci(1891-1937)#Culture, Identity and MeaningAll
movements construct meanings and meaning construction is a social
movements primary function. (Sidney Tarrow)
#15Political OpportunitiesPolitical opportunities sometimes
center on particular groups and evade others;Opportunities for
protest are sometimes greater in some regions or cities than in
others.Political opportunities may not be apparent all at once to
all potential challengers.#Increasing AccessProtest is more likely
in systems characterized by a mix of open and closed factors
(Eisinger, 1973, p.15)The narrower the pre-exisiting avenues to
participation, the more likely each new opening is to produce new
opportunity for contention.#Shifting Alignments / Political
InstabilityWarsIndustrializationInternational political
realignmentsProlonged unemploymentWidespread ethnic conflicts or
demographic changes(McAdam, 41)
#Political instability destroys any semblance of a political
status quo, thus encouraging collective action by all groups
sufficiently organized to contest the structuring of a new
political order.18Divided Elites
#Influential Allies
#Repression and Facilitation
#Repression:(1) 21Protest Repertoire: Contentious PerformanceThe
ways in which protesters present their demands in various
culturesHey Hey Ho Ho, LBJ Has Got to Go (the 1960s)Hey Hey Ho Ho,
Dubya Has Got to Go (21st century)One two three four, we dont want
your Viet Nam WarOne two three four, we dont want your Iraq War
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#A Brief ReviewUnderstanding Social Movement:Why do people
rebel?Grievances, Resource, Identity & MeaningRebellion as a
way of survivalWhen do people rebel? Political opportunity
Structure (POS)How do people rebel?Protest Repertoire#
#Thank You
